A 19-year-old Leaf River firefighter died in a fire in his own home. His parents, who also volunteer as a firefighter and an EMT were injured.
According to the Rockford Register Star, Gregory Wood’s remains were found in a second-floor bedroom in his family’s home after firefighters extinguished a fire reported at 12:39 a.m. today.
Leaf River Fire Chief Steve Shelton, who lives across the street from the Wood family home were the fire occurred told the paper he and his wife were awoken by knocking on the door alerting him to the fire. When firefighters arrived on the scene seven minutes after the 911 came in, they found the house fully involved in flames.
Gregory Wood’s father is one of the department’s two deputy chiefs and his mother is an EMT with the department, according to the newspaper. Both escaped the fire with serious injuries and were hospitalized. Wood’s younger brother, who is a cadet with the department, escaped with no injures, the newspaper reported. The paper also reported the family awoke to a house full of smoke.
The son who was killed in the blaze was a member of the Leaf River Fire Department having joined the ranks a little more than a year ago after completing the cadet program, the newspaper reported.
Deputy Chief Jeremy Glick told the paper the passing of Wood was like losing a family member.
“We’ve never experienced this this close,” Glick told the paper. “We’re grieving the loss of one of our own.”
